Hinge



R. l. RHODES HINGE Filed Nov. 22, 1944 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIO.

Sept. 13, 1949.

Patented Sept. 13, 1949 HINGE 'Russell -I. Rhodes, North Attleboro, Mass., as-

signor -to The :Mason Box Company, Attleboro Falls, Mass., a .corporation ,of Massachusetts .ApplicationvNovember 22, 194.4, Serial No.,564, 56f7 This invention relates to Vjewelry boxes and the like Iand nto metallic hinges for such boxes, and more particularly-toboxes made of cardboard or other sheet material having comparatively little strength and rigidity.

Objects of the ,present linvention are Ato provide a `construction -invvhich the parts of the hinges maybe completelyformed and assembled together before `the hinge lis=applied tothe box, in Which the box need not beperforated or otherwise Weakened forthe purpose of mounting the'hingedparts lthereon, inwhichtheparts may be manufactured and assembled economically Yand in which the construction is 4reliableand durable in use.

In oneaspectthepresentinvention involves a box comprising top and'bottomparts having back walls and ysheet-metal hinges lmounted on the parts respectively for pivotally interconnecting them togetherfeach 'hinge-having a flange folded backto'forrn a channel into which the edge -of one 'of said back walls fits, onehinge having perforations at ithe folded edge of its channel and the flange ofthe other Ahinge being cutto form tongues extending through the lperforations. Preferably Vthe slots extend lengthwise along the f-oldged edge of vone channel `and 'the tongues of the other channel `after passing ithrough the slots extend -across the channel andthence alongthe far sideofthe associatedback Wall, thereby to lock thetonguesinjplace.

In `the preferred renfibodiment theside of .the tongue channel opposite'to the side from .which the tongues Aare Vcut has openings rto receive the tongues Whenthey arebent across the channel, whereby'the tongues. do not obstruct the channel. Whilethe openngsrmay lbein .theform ofrecesses or Vdepressions. theypreferably extend through the sheet-metal in 4thejorm of outfouts.

."In the preferred embodiment each .hinge ,also has a flange extendinginwardly alone the.. inside of thetop.cr'bottomofthe box so that the strains imposed upon the'box'by the hinge will be distributed to the V.top-.andbottom walls of the box instead of being conned to the back Walls.

In another faspect-the'invention involves hinges constructed as aforesaid for-ready attachment to boxes merelyrhyrslidingthe-edgesof the box parts into the aforesaid channels.

`For:thepurpose of illustratoma typicalembodiment of'the invention is shownin theaccompanyi-ng drawings'in which 1Fig.11 is avv-plan View of' the hinge blanks;

;Eig.j 2 is a;perspectivefview ofthe two ,parts of the 1hinge `formed ready forinterconnection Atogether;

5eClaims. (C1. -16-128l =Fig.'3 is asimilar View showing the parts hinteroonnectedready for application -to the vbox;

Fig. 4 is va wrear -view of a box with -the -hinge applied thereto;

Fig-5 is asectionon line -5-5 of Fig.4;

vFig-6 is a see-tion -on line -6-6 'of Fig. 4 showing the cover `of the box i-n open-position;

Fig-7 isa planview of -a modified-blank;

Fig. 8 is a lsection of the modiedvhinge ,parts as they are shaped land hinterconnected-ready Ato be interlocked; and

Fig. 9is a-section likefFig. lofthe modification Showing the -hinge parts interlocked together vand mounted oir-the box parts.

'The particular embodiment `of Athe `invention chosen for the purpose of dllustration Vcomprises a ibox formed inupper and 'lower parts :I and] and /a hinge formed in ,two parts i3 and 4 for attachment to -theupperand lower parts of the box respectively. The blank for vthe upper part comprises twoftongues rforrnedby vslots 21 at one end of thef-blanhand a transverse Vslot il intermediate the ends `of ithef'blank. The blank for the lower partof Athefvhinge comprises two pairs of parallel -slots .il-l 1in line .Withthe tongues Band another transverse slot t2 in line Vwith the slot 8. Afterthe blanks arecut as aforesaid they are bent at i3 .and L4 ,and folded at .l and l- `into theshapesshovvniin Eig. 12,the tongues 6 being folded only part iwayso as toextend obliquely and beinebentalongitransverselines I8 intermediate their ends s o `'that lthe .free endsof .the tongues lie parallel to theioppossd :bases of the hinges Aafter the tongues are completely folded into position. The lower `blankis folded ,transversely intermediate A,the slotsof the pairs Il yso that thertwoslots of eachpair are opposed to each other adjacent the vedge of .the hinge as shown in Fig. 2. yll/'iththe.parts thus shaped the tongues 6 are inserted through the slots Li .and then completely foldedrintothepositionsshownin Fig. 3 Where the free endslieagainstthe opposed Ifaces of the hinge as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. `lilith'the hingapartsthus. shaped thsbox.partsfareslpped intothe groovesofthahinge partsasshown in Figs. .4, i5 and l6. In this vc :onneotion it will b e noted .that the tonsues .extend along the inside of thelbox .Whereasthe inarginalportion of the hinge from which Athe tongues .are cut extend along the outside of thebox. Thus the tongues are 'lockedein folded position bythe box itself. For the purpose of adding rigidity to the'box structure4 the hinges are. preferablyprovided with right-angle'llanges 2l and-22 which extend along the inner faces of the upper and lower parts of 2 the box respectively. The flanges may be cemented to the box or they may be held in position by liners or fillers fitting inside the upper and lower parts of the box. The hinge is preferably provided with the usual C-shaped spring 23 which hooks into the slots 8 and l2 to hold the box either in the closed position shown in Fig. 5 or the open position shown in Fig. 6, the cover snapping from one position to the other in response to the yielding force of the spring. The exterior portions of the hinge may be covered by a strip 24 of fabric or the like which also serves to prevent the box parts from slipping out of the grooves in the hinges.

In the modification shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the blank 3U, corresponding to blank 3 of Fig. l, has tongues 36 which project beyond the edge of the blank a distance such that, when bent into position, they extend substantially to the edge of the channel as shown in Fig. 8, whereby the tongues are more effectively locked in position by the rim of the box cover. As shown in Fig. 7 the tongues may be made longer without using more stock by cutting a series of blanks with complementary recesses lill in the ends of the blanks opposite to the tongue ends. The blank also has cut-outs 39 to receive the free ends of the tongues which extend along the inside of the cover rim so that the tongues do not obstruct the channel space (Fig. 8). While the cut-outs may extend almost to the pintle so that all of the free ends of the tongues which lie on the far side of the channel are disposed in the cut-outs, in the illustration the cut-outs are short and remote from the pintle so that only the tips of the tongues extend through the cut-outs, whereby the tips do not catch on the edge of the cover when inserting the rear wall of the cover into the channel and at the same time the hinge is not substantially weakened by the cut-outs. When the hinge parts are stamped and shaped the tongues are preferably bent to the shape shown in Fig. 8. After the tongues are hooked over the pintles 4l as in Fig. 8, the parts may be interlocked together merely by bending the tongues until the tips pass through the openings and then pressing the tongues against the far side of the channel in the position shown in Fig. 9. Then the box parts may be inserted in the channels as shown in Fig. 9. As shown in Fig. 8 the corners of the pintles 4I may be rounded so that the hinges swing more freely. rlihis can be accomplished readily by swaging the pintle either at the time the blank is stamped or afterwards.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

This is in part a continuation of application Ser. No. 532,568, now abandoned.

I claim:

l. For a box comprising a top and bottom each having a back wall, a hinge comprising upper and lower sheet-metal hinge parts for pivotally interconnecting the top and bottom together, each hinge part having a flange folded back to form a channel shaped to t over the edge of one of said back walls, one hinge part having a pair of opposed perforations in the two sides of its channel at its folded edge and the other part being cut from the free edge of its flange to the folded edge of the channel to form a tongue to extend through said pair of perforations.

2. For a box comprising a top and bottom each having a back wall, a hinge comprising upper and lower sheet-metal hinge parts for pivotally interconnecting the top and bottom together, each hinge part having a ange folded back to form a channel shaped to t over the edge of one of said back walls, one hinge part having a pair of opposed perforations in the two sides of its channel at its folded edge and the other part being cut from the free edge of its flange to the folded edge of the channel to form a tongue to extend through said pair of perforations and thence across its channel.

3. For a box comprising a top and bottom each having a back wall, a hinge comprising upper and lower sheet-metal hinge parts for pivotally interconnecting the top and bottom together, each hinge having a ange folded back to form a channel shaped to t over the edge of one of said back walls, one hinge part having a pair of opposed perforations in the two sides of its channel at its folded edge and the other part being cut from the free edge of its flange to the folded edge of the channel to form a tongue to extend through said pair of perforations, thence across its channel and thence along the far side of the channel.

4. For a box comprising a top and bottom each having a back wall, a hinge comprising upper and lower sheet-metal hinge parts for pivotally interconnecting the top and bottom together, each hinge part having a ange folded back to form a channel shaped to t over the edge of one of said back walls, one hinge part having a pair of opposed perforations in the two sides of its channel at its folded edge and the other part being cut from the free edge of its flange to the folded edge of the channel to form a tongue to extend through said pair of perforations, thence across its channel and thence into an opening in the far side of the channel.

5. For a box comprising a top and bottom each having a back wall and a transverse wall,a hinge comprising upper and lower sheet-metal hinge parts for pivotally inter-connecting the top and bottom together, each hinge part having one flange bent inwardly to bear on one of said transverse walls and another flange folded outwardly to form a channel shaped to t over the edge of one of said back walls, one hinge part having a pair of opposed perforations in the two sides of its channel at its folded edge and the other hinge part having its outwardly folded flange cut from its edge to the folded edge of the channel to form a tongue to extend outwardly through said slots, thence inwardly across its channel and thence along the inner side of the wall and thence into an opening in the far side of its channel.

RUSSELL I. RHODES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 577,652 Gilliland Feb. 23, 1897 931,697 Maxwell Aug. 17, 1909 1,008,662 Mollart Nov, 14, 1911 1,289,489 Lowry Dec. 31, 1918 1,477,717 Rhodes et al Dec. 18, 1923 

